


i'll wait all god's creation just to show her a man can change

by TheRurrJurr



Series: one step up and two steps back [9]
Category: Figure Skating RPF
Genre: GKP, Newfoundland is the good place, trying my hand at not too much angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-04
Updated: 2019-06-04
Packaged: 2020-04-07 12:37:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,634
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19085188
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheRurrJurr/pseuds/TheRurrJurr
Summary: "Let's just stay here," he slurs. "I'll become a fisherman. You can make your greeting cards. They'll make a Hallmark movie about us."





	i'll wait all god's creation just to show her a man can change

**Regina, Saskatchewan  
October 15, 2017**

"We should choreograph something to the Hip."

Tessa rolls over to face him, shifting against the always-too-fluffy hotel room pillows. "I like that idea. A tribute."

He tilts his head to her. "What about "Long Time Running"?"

"I don't think I know that one."

His eyes widen in excitement. "Really?" She shakes her head. "Hang on." He reaches over to the nightstand and cues up Spotify, scrolling until he finds it. "I promise you'll love it."

"You're pretty good at building this up," she laughs and sits up.

"I was right about "Moulin Rouge," eh?" he teases.

"Gonna hold that over my head forever," she mutters.

He queues up the song and she's taken by the intro right away. She immediately begins choreographing in her head, using bits and pieces from their previous programs (they don't have a lot of time, less than 24 hours, so it'll have to be something they can pick up quickly, then maybe tweak later). She loves the bluesy beat, which would lend itself well to a slower, more emotional skate. But it's the lyrics that grab her attention, along with the shy twinkle in his eye, and she suddenly realizes why he picked this one.

_It's been a long time running_  
_It's been a long time coming_  
_It's well worth the wait_

They lock eyes at the lyric and she gives him a knowing smile. "Yeah."

He grins back, a huge smile that stretches across his whole face. "Yeah?"

She happily nods. "Yes. It's perfect."

He hums contentedly and pulls her against him. "Thanks for humoring me. It's been an idea running around my head for a while."

"I love it." Her head is buried in his chest. "Worth the wait?"

"Completely." His voice rumbles against her and he presses a kiss to the top of her head.

She looks up at him and from the look in his eyes, he's not just talking about the song.

***

**St. John's, Newfoundland  
May 24, 2019**

"We should bring back "Long Time Running" for the shows next month."

Tessa tenses, not sure if she heard him right. "Come again?"

Scott shrugs. "We're both big fans of it, right?" He looks out over the ice. "We know the choreography. It would be easy to slot in for Japan."

Tessa stares at the ground. "Whatever happened to trying something new? Something faster so we're not doing two slow ones?"

Scott scrunches up his face. "Not sure we have the time."

"If you hadn't run back to Florida immediately after Spain we may have had the time," she mutters. He turns to her, his expression a mix of shock and embarrassment, which she tries to ignore. "We can figure something out. I have a playlist of ideas ready to go. It doesn't have to be earth-shattering or whatever. It'll be fine."

He sharply inhales and fidgets with his hands. "Well, I'm here now so humor me, please? Let's just run through "Long Time Running" a couple times." He gestures to his phone. "I still have the mix on there."

She's spent a lot of time in the last six months getting to the point where she can say she's fine. Spain was bad enough. The last thing she needs is a crushing reminder that she was not, in fact, worth the wait.

He sighs, taking note of her silence. "Look, let's just try it and if it doesn't work anymore, we'll figure something else out."

Tessa adjusts her skates, avoiding eye contact. "Fine."

They meet at the center of the rink, face-to-face, as the opening riff rings out over the loudspeakers. He reaches for her hand, his thumb and forefinger brushing against the backs of hers, and they start.

It's impossible to *not* feel something when they skate this program. She's not even sure that last year's free dance has this much baggage attached to it. Especially with its history, the idea that this would be the culmination of everything, that all of the bullshit they had dealt with was paying off, and that everything was working itself out.

Yeah, about that...

She can't help but remember the look on his face when they agreed to it. She had believed him. That everything that had come before really was worth it.

_It's well worth the wait_

When they land in the ending pose at center ice, knees touching and his hand on her neck, there's something in his eyes that makes her want to believe him again.

***

She had fully expected a repeat of Spain, and all of the bad things that came with it, and she had steeled herself for the worst. So she was surprised when he was alone when he landed in St. John's, and she hadn't asked for an explanation. They hadn't discussed his breakdown in Mallorca, or what he had been up to in the days since, or why he hadn't so much as texted on her birthday. There were times where she was worried sick about him, and times where she wanted to shake him and tell him to snap out of it, and times when she wanted to run away and not talk to him again.

But he's been...different since arriving here. He's been attentive, present, mingling with the guests, paying attention to her, and genuinely enjoying himself. A lot of the tension in him from Mallorca is gone. It's been nice. She hates the thought that it's just because Jackie's not around - neither of them deserve that kind of treatment, even if she can understand why the situation (of his own making) would be awkward for him.

It's an unusually beautiful day when they're at Ferrylanding. She's chatting with two couples from Winnipeg when she spots him out of the corner of her eye a few yards away. She turns her head to look at him when the couples peel off for a hike and he gives her a little wave. She waves back and he makes his way towards her.

"Hey, stranger."

She turns around to find him standing behind her. "Hi."

He looks around, then back at her. "Nice view, eh?"

Tessa nods. "Yeah, it is."

"Good trip so far."

"Definitely."

He must have picked up on her wariness and rubs his neck. "I'm sorry, I don't...I don't know why I thought this was okay for me to do, I'm an idiot. If you want to be alone, I can go - "

She shakes her head. "No, it's fine."

"I just...I don't blame you for still being angry and I don't even know why I'm doing this, I'll go, I'm sorry - "

"Scott." She grabs his arm as he turns to leave. "It's okay. Stay."

His voice is unsure. "You want me to?"

She finally meets his eyes and nods. "Yes."

He smiles. "Okay." His shoulders seem to relax a bit, but he's still so tense.

She searches for something to say. "Your hair's getting long again."

Scott nervously chuckles and runs a hand through it. "Yeah, guess so."

She smiles. "It looks good."

She swears he blushes a little bit. "Haven't really had time to get it cut," he says. "I don't know. I kind of like it like this, I think. I missed the flow." There's a beat as they take in the view. "Feels like we kind of haven't really talked in forever." He's playing with his hands and the bottom hem on his shirt. "That's my fault but...it just feels weird, not knowing what's going on with you."

Tessa looks down. "Honestly, that's my fault. I've kind of been keeping my distance on purpose."

His hand-wringing gets more manic. "If that's the case, then that's my fault." He looks out over the water. "Are you...what are you doing?"

Tessa shrugs. "Sponsor stuff, mostly. Appearances when I need to. Looking into MBA programs. Nothing earth-shattering or whatever."

Scott nods. "Where are you looking to do the MBA?"

"McGill, Queens, Western as a backup. A couple in the States just for fun."

There's a flicker of panic on his face as he inhales sharply. "So you could be moving-moving soon."

"Not until next year at least. We'll see. I need to get in first. Or maybe I'll just do it online, who knows. Or not at all."

Scott gives her a lopsided smile. "You're going to crush it, regardless. I'll wave to you from the sidelines."

Tessa looks down, because at one point he was supposed to be part of those plans, and she hates the idea that he's not. "How about you? Coaching and everything? Still aiming for Gadbois eventually?"

He exhales, leaning back. "I don't know. Maybe. Marie and Patch are..." he pauses, "...not happy with the, uh, situation. I did kind of back out on them and I'm..." He laughs. "I'm pretty sure you got them in all of this. It might take a little while to get back into their good graces." His shoulders fall. "Maybe next year, we'll see. It would be nice to be back in Montreal."

Tessa nods sympathetically (while internally a little happy, because a tiny bit of her still wants to be petty). "You could always coach at home, I guess. It would be good experience and I'm sure Carol and Alma would love to have you full-time. And I know you like being at home with that crew, so..."

He shrugs. "Yeah, I, uh..." he looks down at the ground and rubs his neck, clearing his throat. "I'm not sure I actually like who I am when I'm there."

She cocks an eyebrow. "Oh?"

Scott rocks back and forth on his heels uncomfortably. "Yeah. I don't know, it's weird. I don't think I noticed it until I was there for a while last month." He stretches out his back. "Like, all I do there is drink with those guys and it's fun but...I don't know. Once you get out in the world it's hard to come back." He exhales. "Not that I'm feeling great anywhere I go."

Tessa looks away and purses her lips. "You know you can work to make that better. I don't get why you're not."

"Where the hell would I start," he mumbles.

"Everyone starts somewhere," she counters.

He's quiet, studying a rock on the ground. "I'm sorry about Spain," he finally says. "I mean, bringing her, being an ass to you, that...whatever it was that happened on the last night." He glances over at her. "Not my finest moment."

"It's done," she replies. He nods, looking back down on the ground. "Have you been feeling okay since then?"

"A bit, yeah." He looks up. "This trip is the first time I've felt okay in a very long time. It's been good."

She smiles back. "Good."

His gaze on her is intense, stirring something familiar in her. She's not sure if it's welcome or not and she looks away quickly.

"You're still not saying much to me."

"Not everything is about you," she teases.

He raises an eyebrow. "Touché."

She lightly laughs. "Just thinking about this show I saw in London. "Come From Away"."

"Oh yeah, I've heard good things," Scott says.

"Yeah, it's really good." She gestures out towards the ocean. "There's a moment where two of the characters visit an overlook in Newfoundland, kind of like this one, and they've started falling for each other over the last few days but they know it's going to end once they get back to their homes and back to reality." Scott is silent, looking out over the view. "So there's this song in the scene about wanting the world to stop so they can stay frozen in that moment forever and not have to worry about anything else."

For once, he doesn't have a retort to that.

***

They arrive back at the hotel later, having been given free reign for the night to go watch the Raptors wherever they want, so she's planning on taking the night off, maybe calling her mom. After a long day of socializing, it should be a nice break.

"Hey." Tessa looks up when she hears Scott call her name down the hall. "I have something for you."

She removes her key from the door and walks over to his room. "What's up?" she asks as he shuts the door behind her.

"Hang on." He rummages through his bag before handing her a square envelope with an angular "T" written across the front. "I, uh, I felt really bad about missing your birthday, and I don't think that this makes up for anything, at all, but..." he gestures, uncertain, towards the card, "I just wanted you to have...something, I guess."

She hasn't seen him this unsure or vulnerable in a long time, much less over something as routine as a card (she's suddenly happy she didn't burn those boxes in a fit of rage last winter). It's unnerving but reassuring, in a way.

It's a simple flower design on the front, painted in watercolors. She opens it up, a small smile on her face.

_"We still have all that rice._  
_Happy Birthday,_  
_Scott"_

She feels her cheeks flush a bit and she smiles down at the card. "Thanks." She rereads the words. "We do, don't we?"

"Yeah. I hope."

She looks back up at him. "I love it." There's a quiet moment between them before she gestures towards the door. "You headed down to the bar for the game?"

"Um, actually, no, I was thinking of watching it up here, just kind of chilling or whatever." He glances around the room nervously. "You're welcome to hang out here and watch it with me if you want, unless you were planning to do it with the group down there, I mean, one of us should probably make an appearance - "

"I'll stay."

He stops, mid-sentence. "Yeah?"

She nods. "Yeah. Let's grab some room service and drinks."

His face relaxes and his eyes light up. "Okay."

An few hours later, they've picked up a six-pack and ordered up some food (burger for him, chicken sandwich for her) and she's got a decent buzz going as the game ends. "I don't know shit about basketball," he admits.

"Me neither." She sips her drink. "Does that make us bad bandwagon fans?"

He shrugs, popping his last french fry into his mouth. "How many people who watch us know anything about figure skating?"

"Fair."

"Our uniforms are way prettier than theirs, though." He laughs and looks at his drink. "Speaking of. I probably shouldn't even be having this right now if I have any hope of fitting into stuff in Japan."

"Those things are so hideous that they hide weight," Tessa assures him.

He groans. "What'll it be this year? Ruffles? Sequins? Shiny paisley print?"

"Why not all of the above?" she laughs.

"Good thing you look good no matter what," he mumbles.

His phone buzzes on the nightstand, Jackie's face lighting up the screen. Tessa nervously looks away. "You can take it, I'll - "

Scott reaches over and shuts off the phone. "I'll text her later."

They're both edging towards drunk, so her guard is down. "She's not my favorite person and I'm still pissed but I don't entirely hate her, you know."

Scott laughs. "You two have nothing in common."

"That's not true. We've both seen your dick."

He stares at her for a moment before cracking up, his face flushing bright red. "Okay, one thing that you have in common with my exes."

"See, Kaitlyn never should have unfollowed me, we could have bonded over that."

He sits up. "Wait, Kaitlyn unfollowed you?" Tessa nods and sips her beer. "On Instagram?" Tessa nods again. "What the hell did you do?"

Tessa shrugs. "It was last summer when you were all over it. I don't blame her now. Who wants to see their ex and the person their ex left them for in their face every day?"

Scott looks down at his lap. "Well, that explains a lot about the last six months."

"You haven't really brought her back to Canada and I was never going to follow her on Instagram," Tessa points out. "So she's only been in my face a few times." Tessa rolls her neck around. "How come you haven't brought her home yet?"

"It's actually kind of simple," he starts. "My mom hates her and her parents are pissed so we don't really have a place to stay, and the only family member I got in this shitshow was Cara, and we'd be recognized everywhere."

If she was feeling braver, she'd ask if he thought those things were red flags, and if they weren't then why not, and why hadn't they bothered to make things right with everyone, because them against the world was no way to go about this.

He hiccups, breaking her thoughts. "Hey. Favorite ex of mine?"

Tessa gestures to herself. "Me, obviously."

Scott laughs. "Excluding yourself."

She ponders it. "Until Kaitlyn unfollowed me I'd say her. Cass and I never really got along. I guess that leaves Jess?"

He smirks. "Not a bad choice. I'll allow it. I think she keeps in touch with Nicole and Charlie."

"Yeah, she works on some cruise ship now," Tessa says.

Scott looks at her quizzically. "How the hell do you know that and I don't?"

"You can find anything on the Internet," she says, nonchalant. "Her boyfriend is cute, good for her."

"Wait, pull her up." Scott leans over her as she scrolls through her phone, getting closer than he's been in a while, and she tries to ignore the flutter in her stomach.

She must have been shakier than she realized because she double-taps on a picture from April before she knows what's happening. "Oh, shit." She throws the phone down like it's on fire and covers her mouth with her hands. "I liked a picture."

"So? You know each other."

"I don't follow her."

"Again, so?"

"It's a month-old picture."

He cracks up. "Well, you stepped in it now."

Tessa flops back against the pillows. "Ugh, kill me."

"She should be honored by you liking an old picture," he argues.

"She's going to be weirded out," Tessa laughs.

"You're, like, the most famous woman in Canada, she'll love it. She can tell all her cruise ship friends about it." He shrugs. "Seriously though, she won't even care. Besides, I hear all my exes are living your best lives, whatever that means, so it makes sense that you're both killing it."

"I'm just staying busy, I'm not sure if that counts as "killing it"."

"Sure you are. I heard you're so busy that you're never home." He turns on his side to look at her. "Can't work from there?"

She looks around, tapping her nails on the side of her beer bottle. "It's still a little hard to be there," she admits.

"Right." For the first time that night, the room is uncomfortably silent before he speaks again. "A cruise ship, eh?" He ponders it for a moment. "But what happens if there's, like, a storm and she can't skate because the boat is rocking back and forth or something?"

Tessa looks up at him, then cracks up. "I can't say I spend my time thinking about things like that." Her laughter fades to giggles. "She's still skating, though. That's pretty great."

"I guess, yeah." His expression darkens. "I'm starting to get worried about that."

"About your ex-girlfriend still skating?"

Scott laughs. "No, I don't give a shit about that, good for her." He stares at his lap and plays with his beer bottle. "It's going to sound dumb, but..."

"No, it's not," Tessa assures him. "What's up?"

He nods. "I'm starting to feel...not entirely comfortable on the ice anymore."

"Oh." She puts her phone on the bed next to her, giving him her full attention. "Is that new?"

"Yeah. It's been bad since Korea. But even before that, really."

"Do you get any ice time when you're down in..."

He shakes his head. "No, I tried it a few months back but it just didn't feel right."

"What about at home? Or while you're coaching?"

"Nothing's clicking at all. It's kind of freaking me out," he admits. "Just...what does it mean for the tour and for anything after that, and what if I drop you during a show, or...whatever. None of it's good and I'm not sure what to do about it."

"Is it because I'm not there or you're busy or..." she starts.

He scoffs. "Yeah, I'm super busy. I'll fit in a trip to the rink in between grocery runs."

Tessa lets his commentary slide and reaches over to pat his arm. "Let's find a place in New York and get on the ice, then. It's probably just a matter of you getting back in the rhythm of things."

"I hope," he mumbles, staring at his beer bottle. "Sorry to end the night on a downer note."

"Don't worry about it. Just don't get on your phone when you're in a bad mood."

He laughs. "Challenge accepted."

She smirks at him, grabbing her phone and the card. "I'm going to bed."

"I'll see you in, like, four hours."

She sneaks out of his room, still a little buzzed, and happily ignores the inquisitive looks from a group of guests in the hallway.

***

She is downright exhausted in the best way possible.

The last night of the trip had been one of her most favorite nights in recent memory. It was just them, the guests, good music, good food and good drinks. She hadn't had that much fun in a long time.

That said, it's a lot more fun to take off her makeup and get her pajamas on before reading until she falls asleep. Until there's a knock on the door and her plans have been thwarted.

She stands on her tiptoes to see through the peephole and laughs as she opens the door. He's standing in the doorway, in a grey henley and sweatpants, a shit-eating grin on his face. She giggles. "Are you drunk still?"

Scott shakes his head. "Nah. Well, some, still, yeah, maybe. Mostly I'm tired."

She giggles again, taking his hand and dragging him into the room with her, closing the door. "Given how you were dancing out there, I'm not surprised."

He flops down face-first on the bed. "It was fun." She sits cross-legged against the pillows, his head next to her knee. He looks up at her. "You had fun."

She smiles. "Yeah, I did. It's been a good trip."

"Let's just stay here," he slurs. "I'll become a fisherman. You can make your greeting cards. They'll make a Hallmark movie about us."

"That sounds like a plan." (to be honest, it's probably the best and most appealing plan she's heard in a very long time)

"Better than Spain, eh?"

Her smile fades and she looks away, nervous. "Well, that bar's not set very high."

Scott grunts in response. "I know." He adjusts his position next to her so that he's lying on his side. "I don't even really remember that night, honestly. It's like I blocked it out. She won't even talk to me about it. But I guess whatever happened wasn't good."

Tessa shakes her head. "No, it wasn't."

"I'm a mess," he mumbles.

She's quiet, trying to decide how to proceed. "I know you weren't in the best mental state, but when you said that you couldn't fix things, it just made me feel like I wasn't worth it all over again. Like it would just keep getting worse and worse without any potential of it getting better and we'd just be...stuck."

"No. If that's the case, that had nothing to do with you," he assures her. "I don't know. I guess I've been looking at this whole thing like "Well, fucked it up, it's too far gone, no point in fixing anything now, may as well dig in." And that has nothing to do with you, at all. That's all me."

Tessa scoffs. "Okay, I'm going to pretend I didn't hear that."

"It's true, though."

"No, it's not. Of all the dumb things you've said in the last 22 years, that is by far the dumbest." She purses her lips. "How long have you thought that?"

"Since Nashville, probably." He shifts against her. "When it all went to hell." She stares firmly ahead, avoiding any potential for eye contact. "Your face on the morning that I told you, then that Walk of Fame weekend..." He trails off. "I was kind of rooting for some bus to come hit me and just end it."

"Stop that."

"You deserve better than me."

She rolls her eyes. "Stop."

"No, I mean it," he half-murmurs, half-slurs into her thigh. "All I do is fuck good things up."

She shakes her head. "No, you don't. You didn't fuck up the Olympics, right?"

He groans. "Fine, I didn't fuck up one thing." He angles in closer to her. "I fuck up everything else, though."

She inhales, then looks down at him. "How do you see yourself?"

"I just told you, as a total fuck-up," he mutters. "I'm the same dipshit from five years ago. I can't do anything right. Fucking up things is the only thing I'm good at other than skating."

She blinks back tears. "That's not true."

"Yeah, it is," he slurs. "If I were you, I would have left my sorry ass years ago."

"That was never going to happen."

"You should have."

"How do you think I see you?"

Scott's silent, then scoffs. "I don't even know. Probably as a pathetic asshat who ruined everything and someone you have to, like, take care of."

Tessa closes her eyes. "Do you really think I would have skated with you for 22 years if I thought that? Or that I would have been with you if that were true?"

He's silent again. "But it is true."

Tessa sighs, frustrated. "Why are you being like this? Yeah, alright, fine, it's true, you fucked up. It was bad. It's still...not great. But it happens, everyone does it at some point. It doesn't - and shouldn't - define you."

"I told you in Mallorca, that's all I've ever done." He rolls onto his back. "Going all the way back to when we were kids. Of course it defines me."

"Because you let it define you," she argue. "You're a gold medalist and a good person. The person you're describing isn't the person I was with for two and a half years. Doing dumb things isn't all you are. You worked so damn hard for the Olympics. Do you know how many amazing things you could do if you worked like that? Or if you had worked like that on us instead of finding an easy out?" She rolls her eyes. "Maybe I wouldn't have spent the last six months feeling like a dumpster fire if you had done that."

He doesn't respond, and the only sound in the room is the hum of the air conditioner flipping on. "I don't want to take you down with me," he finally says, his voice quiet and shaky. "I'd just ruin everything."

Tessa reaches up and wipes away a tear hovering under her eye. "No, you wouldn't have."

"Yes, I would have. Look at this right now."

She stares down at him, clenching her jaw. "So, what, that's it? You've already decided it's going to fail and take too much effort to fix so you're going to waste all of your talent and potential and squander any chance of us being okay so you can be an errand boy in another country to someone who I don't particularly like, but does deserve better?" He's silent. "So then how come she's worth ruining your life for and I'm not?"

"Ruining my own life is fine. Ruining yours, I couldn't live with myself." He rubs his neck, nervous. "I haven't been able to live with myself for it." He sits up, finally looking her in the eye. "I was thinking about it last night, what I'll do if I don't feel good about skating anymore. Or what I could have done in the past if it hadn't worked out. And I don't know what I would have done. But I wouldn't have been okay. Not without you. You would have been fine without me."

"You don't know that."

"You're fine without me right now."

She wonders if it's worth telling him the truth. "No, I'm not."

His eyes, glassy from the night, bore into hers. "Yeah, you are," he insists. "All the sponsorships and the photoshoots and the Barbie and the interviews - "

"Yeah, I mean, I'm doing all those things," she interrupts. "But...they're all kind of...not pointless, but..." she waits, "less meaningful without someone else there." She looks at him, sadness across his face. "Do you know what my favorite day of last year was?" He shakes his head. "That "Vogue" photoshoot. And it had nothing to do with what magazine it was for or what I got to wear or anything like that, but it was because you were there. And that meant more to me than anything." He's avoiding her gaze now, staring at the comforter. "That's what's been missing. That is who you are. Not this...pathetic fuckboy image you have of yourself." She inhales, getting a handle on what she wants to say. "I would happily trade every sponsorship I have for us being okay. I want us to fix this so badly. But there is no way that's going to happen if you wallow and don't see yourself as worthy of anything good."

He looks up at her. "Know why I wanted to bring back "Long Time Running"?"

"To torture me?"

Scott chuckles. "That thing of it being worth the wait...I don't know, I've kind of been clinging to that lately."

"How so?"

"Not just meaning for us, but...everything." He rubs his neck. "I don't want to think of myself as being someone who screws up everything good, but I don't even know where to start on getting stuff sorted out. I just..." he pauses to collect himself, "I have to believe that all of this...mess...is happening for some bigger reason." He takes a deep breath. "I know that I have asked you for so much and never really given you anything in return and I have been so unfair to you but I...I want to do better for you. I really do. I'm just not sure how." He reaches for her hand and she takes it. Unshed tears shine in his eyes. "This all has to be worth something in the end. Because if it's just me fucking up for nothing or not being a good person, then I don't know what to think."

She squeezes his hand and nods. "I know," she whispers. "I want this all to be leading somewhere so badly." She leans forward and wraps her arms around him, pulling him close as he clings to her. "You're not this horrible person you think you are. I promise you that."

He rests his chin on her shoulder. "I just don't know what to do."

She buries her head in his neck, inhaling his scent. "We'll get there."

She's happy to stay there forever, in one of the few places where she feels at home. A few moments later he pulls back. "I didn't realize it was so late, you probably want to - "

"Just stay, I'll - " she blushes a bit, "I'll probably sleep better anyway."

He smiles and stretches out, pulling her close as he does. "Apparently I've started snoring," he warns her.

"Good, that'll make you a lot easier to kick out in the morning, then." She settles against his side, her back against his chest, and reaches over to turn off the light.

The room is dark and quiet when he murmurs something in her ear. "Sure it's worth the wait?"

"Positive."

He places a kiss on her shoulder. "I'll be here."

She reaches up to grasp his hand that's outstretched on her pillow and rests her head on his arm, relaxing for the first time in months.

***

"What number cup of coffee is that?"

Tessa smiles and considers the cup in her hands. "Just two. It's freaking early, don't judge me."

Scott laughs and adjusts his seatbelt. "And you'll have another when we land in Toronto, then on the plane to New York..."

"My overdosing on caffeine is my business, thanks." She looks out the window, tears starting to cloud her eyes. Her voice is soft when she speaks again. "I don't want to go."

"Me neither." He leans forward in his seat. "This was the first time in a long time I felt...human again. Like...no tension or anything hanging over my head or anything like that." He looks down at the floor. "It's been nice."

"Me, too," she admits. "Is she..." She's not even sure she wants to know the answer.

Scott reads her expression, then shrugs. "Not sure. She said she would "make up her mind" later on."

Tessa cocks an eyebrow. "Plane tickets to Japan and PTO usually aren't last-minute decisions."

Scott glances around. "I told her she could come if she wanted but she never told me if she was." He sighs. "So I don't know."

She hums in response and stares out the window again. _It's well worth the wait._ He's not the only one hoping it is.

He takes her hand as the plane pushes back and she doesn't let go until the wheels touch the runway in Toronto.

**Author's Note:**

> s/o to the [new Bruce Springsteen song](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bsH4URIWNRE) for the title and the ["Come From Away" OBCR](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gczyDoBIOrc) for the mood music.
> 
> Yell at me on Twitter at @suchplatonic.


End file.
